EVANSTON, Ill. -- Northwestern and Stanford have finalized plans for a home-and-home football series to be played in 2015 and 2016, Northwestern director of athletics and recreation Jim Phillips announced on Wednesday. The series comes in addition to the four-game set the two schools announced last April, scheduled from 2019 to 2022.

Northwestern and Stanford, whose last meeting came in 1994, will kick off the series in Evanston on Sept. 5, 2015, in that year's season-opener for both teams. The Wildcats will make a return visit to Stanford on Sept. 24, 2016.

The ensuing four-game series also will begin with a home game for Northwestern on Sept. 14, 2019 and alternate home fields for the next three years.

"This was a great opportunity for Northwestern to expand on our upcoming series with Stanford and allow an exciting matchup to take place even sooner," Phillips said. "We're thrilled about the quality of our future nonconference opponents, with schools such as Notre Dame, Vanderbilt, Boston College, Syracuse, California and now Stanford. Couple that with our traditional Big Ten schedule and it is safe to say there will be plenty of exciting action in Chicago's backyard for years to come."

Season tickets for the 2012 football season now are available at NUsports.com or by calling the Northwestern ticket office at 888-GO-PURPLE.